Back in April I suffered about $6,000 worth of hail damage to my 2008 Honda Civic. After much wrangling with my insurance company, they agreed to replace the hood, roof, and trunk with Honda OEM parts. They also approved PDR to the sides of the car.
The damage happened in Omaha, two days before I moved to Albuquerque, so it is an Albuquerque shop that repaired the damage. I took the car in to be repaired in the beginning of August and picked it up about a week and a half ago.
Last week I was on a business trip and left the car in the uncovered airport parking lot. We had heavy rains in the day or two before I got back, and when I returned to the car the inside front and rear windshields were covered in heavy condensation. The driver’s side and passenger side floor mats had mold on them. The trunk had a blanket in it that was damp and the trunk also smelled of mold.
The culprit, in part I believe, is the moon roof which is not seated properly. There is a half an inch to an inch gap between the inside roof and the moon roof. You can see the metal parts of the sides of the moon roof because of the gap. (I hope I’m explaining that clearly.) Perhaps also the rear windshield is not sealed properly causing moisture to get into the trunk.
When the shop was repairing the car, they said that the front windshield broke while removing the original roof and submitted a supplemental to my insurance company to have them pay for it, which my insurance company did.
I called the shop and am taking the car back in to be repaired tomorrow. My questions are: how do I protect myself as a consumer? What are my rights? (Stupidly, I paid for the repair in cash instead of using my credit card.) I’m concerned that they didn’t use Honda OEM parts. How can I tell? How do I make sure my car is repaired back to the original condition? Is this going to cause me long term problems with the car? What about the mold? How do I make sure it’s completely removed from the car? I cannot drive a car with mold in it, nor can I sell it in good conscience.
You are pretty much screwed. The time to catch all this was before you accepted the car from the shop and gave them a fat wad of dough; from this point forward, they’re working for free for someone that will never come back or recommend them, hardly a good incentive.
If they replaced body panels, there’s no real worry that they used Honda parts - there’s not a lot of aftermarket body panels, and none that look exactly like OEM panels. The worry with shops is them charging you for new and giving you used/maybe stolen parts and since the car’s done and together, little late to worry about that.
As far as the mold, on car forums people claim good luck with vinegar/water mixes (but there’s the smell) but best results are an ozone machine.
Wow, that sucks. I’d call your insurance company to let them know that the shop that did the work messed up. They might be able to help in some way, who knows.
I’d call your insurance agent, and see if there’s anything they can do. Your car was damaged through no fault of your own, after all – it is reasonable to drive/park a car in the rain and still expect it to perform properly. Technically, they paid for these repairs, so they have a vested interest (and lawyers) to seeing them done properly.
I agree with SmellMyWort. Don’t handle this on your own, call your insurance company and ask them to deal with it, this is what you pay them for. If they have a local office somewhere, drive over there and show someone what’s going on. You probably need a new local agent anyways.
Also, when the body shop broke your windshield, it seems they should have submitted that to THEIR insurance company, not yours. Actually, since the whole job probably cost them $250 (for the window) they probably should have just eaten that, paid for it with what they made on the repairs on your car and called it a wash. They messed up when they broke the window, accidents happen, it’s no big deal, but your rates should go up because of it.
Thanks, guys. Can someone walk me through the process? Do I call the same adjuster who approved the repair work and paid the claim? I tell him the car is not fixed, there is actually a problem with it, and then what happens? What is his next step? Does he call the shop? What should I expect?
If I’m contacting the adjuster… well, let’s just say he was a… a… unkind fellow to deal with the first time. What is his incentive to help me? What are my rights in regards to my insurance company and how do I make sure this guy does his job? How do I make sure he does it in a timely fashion? I don’t want to be taken advantage of because of my ignorance, know what I mean?
Interesting. I would never have imagined that an accident that was so severe it required the roof to be replaced would be anything but a complete write off. With that much damage to a unibody construction car it’s not surprising there are leaks.
I probably isn’t he sunroof itself, the gap you describe sounds like the headliner wasn’t installed correctly which would not cause a leak. The sunroof also probably would not cause the trunk to be damp.
If I had to diagnose over the internet, my bet is sunroof drains not connected (sunroofs leak, they have drains to drain off the water) and the windshield / rear window not being installed properly.
Any quality bodyshop or auto insurer offers a lifetime warranty on the repairs.
Here is what I would do in your case. Call the insurance company claims phone number. Tell them “I’m calling about claim # XYZ123. I got the car back and after the very first rain storm, I have standing water inside the car and trunk. Obviously there is an issue with the repair quality. How do you suggest we proceed?” Ask to have the car inspected by one of the insurance company’s adjusters.
Repeat the same call to the body shop.
As far as the parts go, there are lots of non-OEM parts available for a Honda, if you really want to know if the parts were genuine, ask to see the invoice for the body parts installed and see if they came from a dealer.
ETA depending on the company the agent either has lots of power, or almost none. That is why I said call claims, they deal with this stuff every day.
Rick, I have a question for you. Can you tell me more about why I would ask that an adjuster come out and look at the car? I forgot to ask yesterday when I called my insurance company. All the insurance company did was call the shop and say hey, this car needs to be fixed and they reported back to me that the shop said they would fix it. They didn’t seem t think it was a big deal, couldn’t understand why I was calling, and gave me a little push back because the shop I used wasn’t one of their shops.
Say:
I want the car re-inspected because there is standing water on the floor and the entire car smells like mold and mildew.
I want this documented in the event of issues down the road.
If I may ask what state are you in and which insurance company is it?
Thank you. I am in New Mexico, and the company is American Family. But I don’t think American Family operates in New Mexico. I tried to find a New Mexico agent off their website and there aren’t any. This is still my Nebraska policy that expires in six days.
I’d call the adjuster that was on your claim. I’m an adjuster and that’s what I would want my insured to do.
Now, what the insurance company can do is up in the air. If you were with my company it would depend if you went to one of our approved facilities. If you did go then I can (and have done this before) call up the shop and say, "Hey, he says you guys didn’t do this right. Look at it and fix it) and no extra cost to you and for as long as you own your vehicle wherever it is in the country. Or go to the manager of all of our shops and say, “Hey, this customer had a bad experience and paid out of pocket for repairs we should have covered. You should reimburse him.” And then they’ll look into it.
Ok, so just got off the phone with a damage appraiser. They are saying basically that there is no recourse on their end because they don’t write in New Mexico, so they have no adjusters here. Because they don’t write in New Mexico, they don’t have any approved shops here, either, so they have no pull with the shop. They say they are there for me if I have any questions but there’s nothing they can do for me.
So, back to the shop to give them an opportunity to fix the car, replace the carpet if need be, pay for a service to get the mold out and pay for a rental while they’re correcting their error.
Just crappy timing to get that level of hail damage on my car two days before I’m leaving the Nebraska.
I also had hail damage this spring. Damage on every panel of the car. Got a new hood and convertible top… everything else was PDR. I got a full written warranty from the body shop. Check your paperwork, it may not be as dire as you think.
I hope not, and I do have a warranty on the work, and I’m sure you’re right and everything will work out. I’m concerned that the shop didn’t notice (or did but didn’t care) that the moonroof wasn’t installed correctly and that the windshields likely weren’t sealed correctly. And I have to rely on them to fix it correctly this time all the while they are taking my car all apart again. I just really need the car to be back to the condition it was in when I took it there, and that is the source of my stress about it. Especially when I feel like I have no leverage to make sure they do what I paid them to do.
